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Monday, March 18, 2013

"...then hang them in the house and neither bats nor worms will touch them."

I was going to be all "Hey guys, Easter is just around the corner, time to break out the ham recipes" and stuff but I found that opening quote much more shocking.

That quote is from Marcus Porcius Cato in 50 BC writing about how the Romans cured hams in his treatises on Roman farm management. From the old days until relatively recently, hams were made basically the same way. They were cured in huge clay jars or containers for days and weeks, then smoked and aged. Now most are injected with a witch's brew of nitrites and tumbled to expedite the process to just a few hours.

I did a test run on a ham this weekend and thought I would write up how I prepare hams on the grill.

Preparing the Grill (I use a Big Green Egg)

As with any cook longer than an hour, I make sure to clean out the grill, removing ashes and unused coal. I make sure that the vent intakes are all clear.

For a ceramic grill, I load it with coal and 5 or 6 chunks of wood or 2 cups of wood chips (I don't soak either). I prefer straight hickory for hams. Why do I like a blend of hickory and fruit woods for ribs and shoulder but not ham? I dunno. I just do.

Once my fire approaches 200f, I slowly start closing the vents and try to let the temp coast up to 250f. Then I put the plate setter in, legs up, with a drip pan on it and the grill grate*** on top of that.

I like to get a semi-boneless, fully cooked half ham about 7-8 pounds. I prefer the butt half instead of the shank half because it is meatier and gives nice big contiguous slices of ham. I avoid spiral sliced hams, only because I like the control of slicing them myself.

Brine - None. They have already been cured/brined by the supplier.

Injection - Can NOT do this this a spiral sliced ham. I took Chris Lilly's pork shoulder injection and modified it for ham as follows: 3/4 c water, 1/2 c pineapple juice, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce. I place the ham cut side down and inject all over the ham every 2 inches or so. I do this an hour before it goes on the smoker/grill.

Rub - I take a basic BBQ rub that is high in sugar and low in salt (I modified Melissa Cookston's Quick and Easy rub) and then add a pinch or two of ground allspice and cloves. It takes 3 - 4 Tbsp. I don't use a binder, I just slather any of the leaked injection around the ham before rubbing it.

Notice the plastic still on ham. It helps minimize wayward squirts.

Season heavily on all sides except the cut end.

Smoking

Once the smoker/grill is stable at 250f, I put the ham, cut side down, on the grill cooking grate (on the side without coals if you are using a kettle style grill) and cook with the lid closed.

I monitor the internal temperature of the ham using a remote probe thermometer.

Glaze - Once the ham reaches an internal temp of 135f (about 3 1/2 hours), I place it in a stoneware pie pan (just to keep my grill clean) and glaze the ham with a cola glaze (4:3 ratio of brown sugar to cola) and continue cooking until the ham reaches an internal temp of 145f.

Sure, you could just cook it in the oven but double smoked is the way to go in my opinion.

The pie pan is just to keep the grill from being a mess with the cola glaze.

Finishing

Not a lot is needed here. Just slice and serve.

My favorite sides for ham are a genre that I call "church social". Casseroles, macaroni salads, and rolls.

Almost too pretty to slice. Almost.

This isn't even 1/2 of the ham.

Storing/Reheating

Ham might be the best food for re-working leftovers.

First, you can eat it cold, straight out the fridge. Late at night. In the dark. Wearing only boxer shorts. Don't judge me.

Thy Daily Bread. Thinly sliced, it works in sandwiches from basic ham and cheese to fancy classics like Croque Madam and Monte Cristos.

Green Eggs and Ham. You don't have to eat it on a boat with a goat, but ham and eggs have tons of possibilities like omelets, breakfast burritos, or egg scrambles.

Casserole Central. There are more ham casserole recipes out there than stars in the sky. As Carl Sagan would say, "Billions and billions..." and most of them are great comfort food (maybe not great for you).

I made a cheesy ham pot pie with some leftovers that I will be posting later this week.

So what are your favorite ham tips or ham recipes?

***Grill grate vs cooking grid - Yes I know that Big Green Egg refers to the grill cooking grate as "a cooking grid". I saw someone on the forum mock someone for calling it a grill grate. Everyone else calls it a grill grate. If a car manufacture decided to call the steering wheel for their cars a "navigation disc", I'm still calling it a steering wheel.

Fabulous ham Chris. I'm looking forward to that pretty pot pie later. When I was growing up, there was always a baked ham in our refrigerator, just waiting for sandwiches on homemade bread and my mom's mayonnaise. They are my favorites and I can still taste them.Sam

For just two of us I've never prepared a whole (or large) ham. I like to buy slices at the market. Then I slip them into boiling water and let them sit off heat for 6 or so minutes, thus reducing the saltiness. Love it.

I did a ham recently and enjoyed the results, but was slightly disappointed in flavor throughout. I think injection will take care of that - great idea. Also, one tip, since you asked, I wrapped my ham in foil after about 2 hours to help get it up to temp quicker.I think this also may have helped make it crazy juicy.

I love how you refer to the sides as "church social". When I think of ham, I always think of au gratin potatoes on the side. Of course, the leftovers are the best. I'm convinced a good ham and cheese done right is one of the best things on earth.

Those darn Romans ... never a dull moment. I know you get tired of me saying this, but my grill is currently covered with a foot of snow. I'll stick to my oven method. I want to post my mom's leftover ham salad sandwich recipe this year. Your pot pie looks pretty darn good Chris.

Chris - i tried this recipe with a nice 8lb bone in cooked ham this weekend, set up and executed exactly as you describe. Most of it was amazing, but the meat that was close to the bone turned really wet and pastey. Not sure if it was the meat itself or the injection or what (maybe marrow leaked out?)

Have you ever seen this before? No idea how i would address it, other than simply cutting away the lousy stuff when slicing, which is what i did.